By ODINAKA BENEDICT writing for ODOGWU MEDIA.
The governorship
candidates for the November 18 governorship election in the state
yesterday exchanged views at the governorship debate organized and televised by
Channels Television.
Among the candidates were incumbent
governor, Willie Obiano of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr
Oseloka Obaze of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Tony Nwoye of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Chidoka of the United Peoples
Party (UPP) and Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) candidate, Godwin
Ezeemo.
All the five candidates presented their vision and intention
for the state and why they want to become the governor of the state.The governors elect all took turns to answer question fielded to them on some key issues in the state.
The incumbent governor, who is contesting for a second
term revealed that if re-elected will make Anambra State first choice
investment destination and hub of economic activities in the country. He claimed that under his administration, indigenous and non-indigenous
alike would be given equal opportunity for wealth creation. He also said
that if all states in the country were like Anambra State, Nigeria
would not be in recession.
Obaze claimed that the state has been hijacked which prompted him to leave his private life and come to politics.The PDP candidate who was a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) during
the Peter Obi-led administration and at a point during the Obiano
administration, said the need to come back to politics was as a result to rescue the state from bad governance orchestrated by Obiano’s poor performance in the state..
Obiano on his part, seized the occasion
to deny receiving N75bn from his predecessor, Peter Obi, saying
that he (Obi) left N9bn in cash and issued cheques worth over N15bn.
But, Obaze challenged him, asking why he (Obiano) waited four years
before denying receiving the said amount.
“Obi left N75bn in cash, foreign exchange
and assets and in his handover notes these figures were well
documented. Obiano received these notes and signed them, if he claims to
be an auditor, why did he sign those handover notes and agreed to have
received the funds? Why did he wait four years before denying? It is
because he knows that those funds were given to him.”
Obiano, while reacting to other issues
about infrastructure decay in the state, accused his opponents of being
ignorant of the state’s economy, saying the APC candidate did not have
executive capacity to govern a state because he has never worked in his
life. He also said other opponents lacked financial and administrative
capacity to govern.
He said his predecessor generated
Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N40bn in eight years and received
over $2bn, while he (Obiano) has been able to generate N551bn in three
and half years but received only 40percent of what Obi received from the
federal government. He also said that the state had begun export of
yams and vegetables to the United Kingdom and has completed 51 roads of
337 kilometres and made payment of N38bn to solve erosion problems.
“Onitsha- Enugu expressway has not been
done because it is a federal road and they are owing N43bn. The federal
government was owing N49bn but it has been brought down, when they pay
it, I will construct the road”, Obiano said.
Nwoye on his part said he has been able
to lobby the federal government to begin work on the Onitsha expressway
and promised to make the state an industrial hub through the provision
of power and water, if elected governor.
Obaze challenged Obiano over these
claims asking him to state any two kilometres of road he started and
completed. “This government has spent over N600bn in the last four years
on roads but there is nothing to show for it.” Chidoka, while
responding to Obiano’s assessment of other candidates said “can you
compare a 60 year old man who retired as Executive director of a middle
class bank and a man who became CEO at 35 years? We cannot collect from
the poor to build a state. Anambra is not a sustainable state and my
ambition is to reverse the trend.”
On his part, Ezeemo said, “ this state is wallowing in trouble, that is why we need selfless people to take over leadership.”
On the issue of the agitation of the
proscribed indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nwoye said he would
tackle the issue by providing employment opportunities for the teeming
unemployed youths because he believed the agitation was caused by lack
of jobs, while Obiano empathized with them, but noted that the solution
was restructuring.
Obaze however pour blamed on Obiano for the scourge of agitation and accused him of mishandling the situation. He said that
it was unfortunate that the governor would sit by and let South
Eastern youths be branded terrorists by the federal government, telling
him to accept responsibility.
Chidoka and Ezeemo also differed, saying
that the agitation was not caused by unemployment. They believed that
the root of the issues is structural problem caused by the imbalance in
the country.
“Nnamdi Kanu was the London chairman of
APGA, but because the party deviated from its ideology and became a
money-making machine, the seeds of IPOB were sown. Those agitating all
over the world are professionals and not unemployed”, Chidoka said.
Speaking on the viability of having an
airport in the state, Obiano said the airport project at Umuleri is
being financed by three companies to the tune of $2bn while the state
government gets 10percent equity shares. He promised that the project
would be completed in three years.
But Obaze and Chidoka described the
project as a waste of resources. They argued that many of the
surrounding states already had airports; as such they advised that such
funds be channelled into infrastructural and human development.
Chidoka said, “No state government owns
an airport because it’s in the exclusive list. If a state builds an
airport, the federal government would eventually collect it. When I was
Minister for Aviation, I collected three airports from three state
governments. The government should rather channel the $2bn meant for the
airport into transforming Awka and Onitsha into megacities.”
ANAMBRA GUBER: OBIANO DENY OBI'S 75BILLION CLAIM AT ELECTION DEBATE
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Monday, November 13, 2017
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